In the distribution of electrical power, electrical lines, such as “triplexed secondaries” can be used to distribute electrical power to residential and commercial users. The triplexed secondary distribution line can be composed of two insulated electrical conductors wrapped helically around a third non-insulated conductor. The bare or non-insulated conductor “leg” is a neutral messenger or ground conductor while the two insulated conductors are typically energized and hence are known as “hot” legs.
Often, a single triplexed secondary distribution line is used to supply a number of different residential or commercial customers with electrical power. Hence, it is necessary to tap the triplexed secondary line at various points along its length so that electrical power can conveniently be provided to multiple users from the same triplexed secondary.
Tapping the triplexed secondary distribution line is accomplished by attaching an electrical connector known as a mid-span tap to the individual insulated conductors and a neutral connector which serves as a separator and dead-end for service drop cables. The construction of the mid-span and neutral connectors are such that when the conductors of the triplexed secondary are connected, the individual conductors in the vicinity of the connections are spaced from each other. This is in contrast to the normal situation in which the conductors are twisted and hence contact each other. Once the connector taps have been secured to the conductors of the triplexed secondary, triplexed service drop connectors from the individual residential or commercial customers are connected to the tap to distribute power to such customers.
In the course of connecting a mid-span tap to a triplexed secondary distribution line, it is necessary to spread the conductors, particularly the hot legs, and once they are spread maintain them in a spread condition while the mid-span tap and neutral connectors are being connected. Of course, after the mid-span tap connection is completed, the conductors of the triplexed secondary remain spread in the region of the taps by virtue of the construction of the connectors themselves.
To facilitate spreading the conductor of a triplexed secondary while a mid-span tap is being connected, a variety of spreading tools have been proposed. A simply approach is to use a screw driver. This approach, however, presents a safety risk in that the instrument can conduct electricity to the hand of the user if the conductive pathway is not fully insulated. Other spreaders have been proposed. For various reasons, such as expense, difficulty of use and mechanical stability, the proposals heretofore made have not been entirely satisfactory. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,352,301 and 3,734,462 disclose spreaders in the form of large screws which are threaded between two conductors to be spread. Once the device has been threaded between a pair of conductors it maintains the conductors in a spread condition without further manual intervention. The disadvantage of this approach, however, is the bulkiness and cost of the tool itself, and the fact that it takes longer to actually spread the conductor with the tool than other approaches. In addition, the device is incapable of spreading three conductors simultaneously; if three conductors are to be spaced, two devices are necessary.
Another approach is found in the tool disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,364. In accordance with this tool, a pair of spaced angulated studs are provided in the central portion of a long bar. The studs are inserted between the conductors to be spread and the handle gripped at its opposite ends and rotated 90°, spreading the conductors. The problem with this tool is that both hands of the user must engage the tool to spread the conductors. A further disadvantage is that once the conductors are spread the tool is mechanically unstable in the sense that if it is accidentally bumped, the tension of the spread conductors can snap the tool back to its initial position with the conductors contacting each other.
Other schemes have been proposed, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,174,723, 3,269,706 and 3,425,114, operating on a “scissors-like ” principle. However, each requires two hands to operate and due to the number and complexity of moving parts, is relatively expensive. U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,684 presents a hand tool to spread apart wires and maintain them spread apart, however the tool is bulky and is limited in use. Various other approaches have been used, each of which have one or more disadvantages with respect to cost, ease of use and/or mechanical stability.
A shortcoming of the prior art approaches is that they are not multi-use. A lineman can only take so many tools up with them as they service wires, and making a special trip just to spread wires adds time and therefore cost to maintenance operations. What is needed is a wire spreader that can solve a number of problems lineman face.